High-Caliber Holiday by Susan Sleeman Page B

toward the firehouse in silence. He parked in front and grabbed the bag containing Nantz’s cup.
    Morgan leaned toward the front window. “You all live here, huh?”
    â€œAmazing, right?” he said, looking at the impressive historic building through her eyes. “A woman—Winnie Kerr—was grateful to Darcie for saving her life, so she donated the place to County for FRS members. We all share the first floor, but we each have a private condo on the second and third floors. And we don’t pay a cent in rent or for utilities. Everything’s covered by an endowment fund.” He smiled. “You’ll get a better idea of what I mean when we go in.”
    Together they exited the truck and stepped toward the brick house decorated with twinkling white lights strung from every spot possible.
    â€œGood thing you all don’t have to pay the power bill for all of these lights.”
    He chuckled. “It’s Skyler. She’s really into the whole Christmas thing.”
    Morgan looked up at him. “Sounds like you’re not.”
    â€œIt was never a big deal in my family growing up,” he said without further explanation, and opened the door to reveal additional decorations in the foyer.
    An industrial staircase led to their condos and showcased a banner that was strung with garland and lights. Poinsettias sat on the steps and a small tree filled the corner of the entry. He led Morgan into the family room, a wide-open space where fire trucks used to park. The FRS worked out of the sheriff’s office, but Winnie built a special garage across the driveway for their truck so if they weren’t on duty, they wouldn’t have to report to the office for a callout.
    His teammates’ voices echoed under the first floor’s high ceilings that carried ductwork and pipes across the space.
    â€œWow,” Morgan said as she turned, her eyes wide with wonder. “Even without all the amazing decorations, this place is so cool. I especially like that you kept the big red fire doors and it still feels like an old firehouse.”
    â€œAll Winnie’s doing. She remodeled the whole place with our team in mind.”
    â€œCan I see the rest of the place?”
    â€œSure. Sounds like the team’s in the dining room. I’ll have someone take you on a tour while I grab my clothes.” He led the way to the dining area that was big enough for the team and guests. Brady stopped in the doorway to wait for the conversation to die down so he could properly introduce Morgan.
    All team members were present except Skyler. Cash’s fiancée, Krista, had joined them, too. Her grandfather, Otto, often accompanied her to dinner, but he was absent tonight. Krista and Cash had been engaged for six months now, and were hinting at a spring wedding. Cash had already asked Brady to be his best man.
    They’d finished eating but were still too busy talking to notice Brady’s arrival.
    â€œI see it was Cash’s night to cook,” Brady said loudly to gain their attention, and then pointed at the bucket of takeout fried chicken.
    â€œI’m working on teaching him,” Krista said, and winked at Cash. “But honestly, he’s hopeless.”
    Morgan eased past Brady and all eyes went to her, his team quickly sizing her up. Deputies made split-second decisions all the time on the job and that meant making quick determinations about people. Darcie, of course, knew Morgan, Archer had spent lunchtime with them, and the others had seen her at the standoff. If they’d already formed an opinion of her, no one had mentioned it. For a reason Brady wasn’t about to dig into, he cared what they thought about her. Cared too much about it for his own good.
    â€œYou all remember Morgan,” he said, and quickly brought the team up to date on her stalker situation.
    Jake frowned from his seat at the end of the table. “You don’t think it’s